The Incredimammals
by PullTogether
Summary: After a mysterious incident at The Zootopia Museum of Art, Nick and Judy find themselves with strange new abilities. Things get crazy as they try to keep their super identities secret while hunting down criminals with special powers of their own, including a new villain with a sinister plan that threatens the city and everyone in it. Humor plus low key WildeHopps.
1. Chapter 1

Ord had waited a long time for this moment, and he wasn't about to let a room full of screaming brats dampen his mood.

The saiga antelope made his way through the clamorous herd of smaller mammals and stood before the ancient Akrotiri fresco, centerpiece of the newest exhibit at the Zootopia Museum of Art. He stared intently at the mural, dominated by the shadowy form of the mighty god Zoose towering over a smaller figure holding up the gem of Epithymoun, which glowed a bright orange in the light from a nearby window.

The antelope shivered in anticipation before he leaned over the rope barrier and tentatively reached for the shining gem, but he froze at the last second. He'd almost forgotten there were cameras everywhere, and getting thrown out of the museum right now would be a disaster. Ord hastily straightened up and was surprised to find a small fox standing next to him.

The newcomer scowled at the antelope and spoke in a deep baritone voice. "I'd be keepin' yo' hooves off the exhibits, if I'z you." Ord ignored him and the fox turned to mumble to himself as he read the plaque next to the fresco. When he was done, the smaller mammal made a rude noise. "Wishing stone? Mammals is so stupid."

Ord chuckled to himself before he cleared his throat and asked, "What would you wish for?" The fox gave him an odd look and he added, "If it were real, of course."

The smaller mammal shrugged. "A huge stack o' sweet simoleons maybe."

The antelope sighed and shook his head. Mammals never changed. Their basest short-sighted desires were always what they thought of first.

As if reading his mind, the fox stroked his chin thoughtfully and added, "Though... some kinda supery-powers would be nice. Like in da comics." The fennec fox glanced over as a russet fox and a grey rabbit stepped through the doorway.

Nick Wilde quickly scanned the room and nodded at Finnick when he noticed the small fox. "I can't believe you volunteered us for this _again_ , Carrots."

Judy Hopps stopped straining on her tiptoes in a futile attempt to see over the other mammals in the crowded room and flopped down flat on her feet. She said in a teasing voice, "Oh come on, Nick. Worried about spending a few hours with some itty bitty orphaned mammals?" She raised an eyebrow. "Or are you allergic to art?"

Nick made a rude noise. "I'll have you know, my tastes are impeccable when it comes to the finer things in life." He glanced around the room again. "Speaking of orphans, where did the little anklebiters run off to already?"

They waded into the crowded room and Judy said, "I know you like spending time with Jack."

Nick chuckled and shook his head. "Poor guy. What rabbit saddles their kid with a name like that?"

But Judy was barely listening as she stretched up on her tiptoes again. "Now where is Skye…."

Nick knew the young vixen hated that name, and he couldn't blame her. With a name like Skye Azure, she probably got teased even more than Jack did. "She likes to be called Violet, remember?"

Judy turned to elbow him and grin. "Don't change the subject. Come on, admit it. You like spending time with Jack."

Nick shrugged. "He's ok, even though like most bunnies he's dumb as a box of rocks."

Judy nodded solemnly. "Probably why you two get along so well."

Turning away to hide his smile, Nick's attention fell on Finnick again and the odd mammal next to him. He'd never seen this particular species of antelope before, and his unusual clothes looked out of place. Nick couldn't help but consider how old conmammal habits die hard, since Finnick had obviously intentionally zeroed in on this guy. Nick went back to searching the room, glad that Judy hadn't asked about the fennec fox. He didn't want to explain how he'd lied at the front door and claimed Finnick was one of the orphans so he could get in for free.

Several mammals exited the room, and among the remaining stragglers was an arctic fox with a streak of purple in her fur. Standing next to her was a small gray rabbit, his mouth agape as he stared up at one of the larger exhibits.

"Ahh, there the little savages are." Nick had barely finished speaking when the little rabbit saw them and bounded over. Nick grinned and said, "Hey squirt, whatcha wanna show me?" as Jack grabbed his paw and began pulling him across the room.

They'd only taken a few steps before Judy called after them. "Don't forget, I want to stop by the observatory later and see the eclipse."

Nick let Jack drag him over to a collection of statues that towered above them. He recognized several of the gods, including one giant statue of Hareacles wrestling a golden maned lion. Nick looked up at the statue and said, "I wouldn't mind being super strong." He glanced down at Jack and smiled. "That would be pretty cool, wouldn't it?"

The rabbit shook his head and pointed at another nearby statue. "Not as cool as zooming around like Hareames." With a wistful look on his face, he quietly added, "Then I could run faster than James."

"Who's that?"

"Just a cheetah at school." Jack looked sullen and added, "There's no way I could beat him."

Nick knelt down and looked the rabbit in the eye. "Look kid, there's always someone who is faster, or stronger, or smarter. You gotta learn to play to your strengths." He playfully tapped the little rabbits forehead. "And don't forget to use your noggin."

Jack frowned. "Yeah, but _somebody_ has to be the fastest, right?"

Before Nick could reply, he was startled by a low pitched hum that filled the room. His ears swiveled and he turned towards the sound, which seemed to be coming from somewhere near Finnick. The small fox was still standing next to the antelope in front of the fresco, and Nick noted that Finnick's ears quivered.

Seconds later, Nick heard a scattering of pained grunts from other nearby mammals. He searched until he saw Judy across the room, her arm extended to grab Violet's shoulder. The young vixen was shrinking away, her annoyed look quickly changing to one of pain. Nick watched helplessly as both Judy and Violet clutched their ears and began to scream, and next to him Jack whimpered.

The sound grew louder and hammered into Nick. He let out an involuntary howl before he clamped his paws over his ears and crumpled to the floor in front of the Hareacles statue.

Ord ignored the groans of the mammals around him while he finished stuffing cotton into his ears. He stepped forward to raise his arms in supplication as the gem of Epithymoun pulsed brighter and the hum grew almost as loud as the confused babble of the other mammals. The sunlight coming through the window dimmed and more screams filled the air. The gem glowed blindingly bright and the air rippled.

The antelope closed his eyes and smiled as his stomach lurched and a familiar vibration coursed through his body. Seconds later, Ord's screams joined those of the other panicked mammals when his body burst into flames.

* * *

Writer's note for FF: Check out the artwork associated with this story at pulltogetherfanfic on tumblr.


	2. Chapter 2

As Miranda slowly regained consciousness, her ears were immediately assailed by a murmur of voices and a steady stream of beeping sounds. The noise aggravated her splitting headache, which felt like her brain was trying to claw its way out of her skull. Motionless and eyes still closed, Miranda quickly sniffed a few times to discover several dozen mammals were nearby, including the overpowering musk of a male fox.

As a coyote, she was naturally wary in unknown situations, so she slowly opened her eyes and peeked out through guarded slits. She found herself in an unfamiliar bed, one that was much cleaner than any she'd ever slept in before. Surreptitiously glancing around the room, Miranda could only see a few other beds, all of which were occupied. The beeping sounds came from machines monitoring their vital signs, and the young coyote panicked briefly when she realized she was in the hospital. Miranda was trying to remember how she got there when an odd voice spoke from behind the privacy curtain next to her.

 _(* I hope Carrots is ok. *)_ She wasn't sure why, but it had a weird echo to it, like the mammal was speaking from across a large empty room. She had no idea how, but Miranda knew it was the fox she'd smelled earlier. Then he spoke again in a normal voice. "How's Officer Hopps?"

Another deeper voice replied, "She's resting comfortably. They already moved her out of the ER to the southwest wing, which is being cleared to hold the mammals from the museum." A water buffalo, Miranda realized. Again she wasn't sure how she knew the last part, which sprung unheeded into her mind.

The fox spoke again. "What about the orphans? And a fennec fox. He was small, about yea big, an, uhh... associate of mine-"

This time it was the buffalo speaking with an odd, echoey voice. _(* I know who he is_. *) In a normal tone he added, "All the children are fine. As for your associate, he disappeared before paramedics arrived. We've already distributed his picture to the other precincts, along with the photos of several other mammals who left the scene."

"And the antelope? I don't know what species he was."

"Saiga antelope. We don't often see them here in Zootopia. The coroner will have a preliminary report in a few hours."

Miranda's head throbbed. She clenched her eyes shut and tried to ignore the two mammals as they continued their conversation. It made no sense that their voices sounded so odd, until she remembered the loud noise at the museum and wondered if it had damaged her hearing.

Another strange voice interrupted her thoughts. _(* My poor quills. *)_ She opened her eyes and saw the voice was coming from a forlorn-looking rodent across the room. He slowly shook his head before he spoke again. _(* How will I ever go out in public looking like this? *)_

Except his mouth didn't move.

Miranda sat upright in bed and gawked at what she now realized was a porcupine missing all of his spines. The rodent continued to mournfully complain, though his lips remained still. _(* I look like a freak. *)_

Then she suddenly found herself awash in a babble of odd voices, several strange whispers all jumbled together:

 _(* Why is Carrot Crush so easy all of a sudden? Now it's boring. *)_

 _(* Maybe they'll grow back. *)_

 _(* I want my mommy, where's my mommy? *)_

 _(* Miss Blanca must be freaking out right now. *)_

 _(* Where…...am...I? *)_

 _(* Why can't Chief Buffalo Butt hurry up and get to the point? *)_

 _(* Hey you kids stop eating my lawn! *)_

The last came from an old goat who appeared to be sound asleep. He was dreaming, but Miranda had no idea how she knew that.

The water buffalo spoke again, and the murmur of whispers receded into the background. "The doctors want to keep you and Officer Hopps under observation for at least another day. Once you feel up to it, I need you to discreetly interview the other mammals that were at the museum during the event-"

"Is that what they're calling it? 'The event'? Sounds like a Gazelle concert."

"Actually, the official story is a gas leak. Something highly unusual is going on, and until we have a clear grasp of the situation, it's our duty to keep mammals from panicking. Now, if you'll kindly shut it, we can finish up so I can get back to-"

Miranda felt the rage build in the buffalo when the fox interrupted him. "A hot date with a box of donuts back at the precinct?" followed by, (* _The Chief really should learn to chill out before that pulsing vein on his forehead bursts *)_.

A wave of nausea swept over the coyote. She had no idea what was going on or how she could possibly know all these things. Was she hearing what other mammals were thinking? The idea totally freaked her out, but it was the only explanation she could think of, unless she was going crazy.

Much to Miranda's relief, a few minutes later a hippo pushed the fox's bed past her and out of the room, followed by a large and annoyed-looking water buffalo. At least that part of this whole crazy mess was real. She decided to try focusing on the other mammals in the room and see what happened.

A sloth staring off into space was the first mammal she noticed. _(* I'm...so…...hungry…... *)_ His thoughts were as glacial as his movements, so she concentrated on another mammal, and then another. Each time she swore she heard what they were thinking, until her gaze fell on a young arctic fox watching her from across the room.

The coyote recognized the vixen from the group home where they lived, along with a dozen other orphaned mammals. Since Miranda had only been placed there a few days ago, she couldn't remember the arctic fox's name, until she noticed the purple streak in the fur on the vixen's forehead. She smiled at Violet, who turned away and stared at her paws.

Miranda sensed there was something unusual about the fox, before she realized that unlike every other mammal in the room, she wasn't picking up any stray thoughts from Violet. The coyote concentrated on her, and the space between them shimmered briefly, like waves of hot air over sizzling asphalt, until the fox's head rocked back as if she'd been slapped. The young vixen cast a wide-eyed look in Miranda's direction, and the coyote quickly lay back in bed to slip out of sight behind the privacy curtain.

As the coyote puzzled over what had just happened, she heard, _(* What was that? *)_ Even though she couldn't see him, Miranda knew the thought came from a beaver a few beds away, another orphan her age named Norm. He'd seen what happened to Violet, and the coyote hoped he wouldn't start freaking out. She focused on him for a moment, before she felt him relax and go back to reading a comic book. Like her, he was one of the older mammals at the home, and within the next year they would age out of the system. Thinking about how soon she would be on her own terrified her.

The hippo nurse barged back into the room and walked to stand next to Miranda's bed. The nurse examined her chart while she spoke. "You'll be moving to a room shortly, once we get everyone sorted out." Then Miranda heard her thoughts. _(* Poor thing *)_ The story was always the same when mammals found out she was an orphan. Either distrust or pity, and occasionally both, though Miranda would gladly take pity instead of sidelong glances and angry whispers.

Suddenly the coyote's stomach growled, and Miranda was reminded that she hadn't eaten today. The hippo chuckled and asked, "Feeling hungry? I'll see what I can scrounge up while the doctor is checking you over." A few minutes later, when Miranda was wheeled out of the room, she carefully avoided looking at Violet, though she did catch a glimpse of Norm, his nose buried in a _Fantastic Furr_ comic book.

As the nurse gently pushed her bed through the room, Miranda struggled to hold back laughter when she heard the sloth thinking:

(* Hey…...why…...does…...she…...get…...something…...to…...eat? *)

After a long session of poking and prodding by a koala with cold paws, the nurse brought Miranda the most delicious meal she'd had in years. After finishing the last bite of ice cream, she flopped back into bed and sighed contentedly. Miranda closed her eyes, and a slow smile crept onto her face as she contemplated how her life would never be the same again.


	3. Chapter 3

Judy stood in a field of flowers next to the verdant rolling hills near the Hopps family farm. She closed her eyes and listened to the birds chirping in the lone tree next to the gurgling brook where she'd spent countless summer days splashing and playing with her siblings.

A gentle breeze caressed the fur on her forehead, bringing with it the scent of violets. Lost in the familiar sounds and smells of home, she absentmindedly started to pick flowers, before she heard a faraway voice. "Carrots?" The world around her blurred, and the voice spoke again. "Carrots, you awake?"

Judy bolted upright and immediately regretted the sudden movement when a wave of dizziness swept over her. Collapsing back onto the soft bed, her thoughts a confused jumble, she finally managed to sputter out, "What… where…how long-"

Nick chuckled and interrupted her. "Hospital. A few hours. And I dunno what happened." He was sitting in a chair next to her bed, and Judy was horrified to discover she was clutching his tail. She quickly let go of it and scrunched her eyes closed in embarrassment as Nick spoke again. "I hated to wake you, since you looked so gosh darn cute holding my tail and drooling, but-"

Judy opened her eyes and frowned. "Don't you dare call me cute." Nick laughed and she added, "Is everyone okay?"

There was an awkward pause before the fox picked up a pen from her bedside table and started playing with it absentmindedly. "The kids are fine, everyone's fine, except, uhh, one old antelope. And before you ask, I don't know why he caught on fire." Judy gave him a puzzled look and he added, "Finnick is missing too, but I'm sure he'll turn up." She waited for him to continue. Instead, Nick silently played with the pen, twirling it expertly between the digits of his right paw a few more times before he spoke again. "The doctors want to keep us under observation for another day. Once we feel up to it, Bogo wants us to interview the other mammals that were at the museum."

Judy started to scramble out of bed, but Nick put a paw on her shoulder and gently held her down. "Whoa, slow down there superbunny. It's still early in the morning, and everyone's asleep. None of them are going anywhere. Besides, now that you're awake, we need to have the doc check you over. How do you feel?"

"Kinda dizzy. But ok, I guess?"

He nodded. "Does anything feel... different?"

There was something odd about the way he asked the question, but when Judy looked at her partner, all she could see was his usual conmammal face, an inscrutable mask that he wore all too often. He avoided her gaze and again started to nervously fiddled with the pen in his paws. Unsure of what was bothering him, Judy said, "No… not really-"

He dropped the pen he'd been playing with, and Judy instinctively reached out to catch it, her arm quickly stretching well beyond what was normal. They both stared, mouths agape and motionless, except for her arm, which slowly shrank back to normal size.

Judy was the first to react when she panicked and started to reach for the call button. Nick yelled, "Carrots… wait!" and leapt out of the chair to slap the device away. The call button flew across the room and embedded itself in the wall.

Again they stared at each other in quiet open mouthed surprise for a few moments before they both noticed that Nick had crushed the bed rail like tinfoil in his haste to keep Judy from calling the nurse.

He let go of the mangled rail and rubbed the back of his neck. "Earlier I noticed… look-" Nick took a deep breath and slowly let it out before he continued. "We really need to talk."

* * *

Miranda awoke from the most restful night's sleep she'd had in years. The coyote stretched and yawned, grateful that the room was quiet, since the noisy machine monitoring her vitals had been turned off sometime during the night. Her calmness was short lived, though, when she was immediately inundated by random thoughts from several nearby mammals:

 _(* Where in the world did this come from? *)_

 _(* It's weird, I don't know why I had trouble understanding so many things before. *)_

 _(* Finally… I thought that old goat would never shut up. *)_

 _(* Did that sloth just make a bunch of leaves appear out of thin air? *)_

The other mammals' thoughts swirled around in her head, and it was apparent several more had figured out they also had powers. Miss Blanca was marvelling at a large gold coin that had suddenly appeared in her paw, while the sloth from yesterday apparently had similar powers to conjure up leaves out of thin air. Miranda had trouble identifying what some of the other mammals could do, though in every case she felt an odd kind of echo that reminded her of the sound from the museum.

A sudden urgent thought pushed its way into her head:

 _(* How do I make Carrots understand why we can't tell anyone? *)_

Focusing on the fox police officer, she quietly laughed to herself when she realized who the nickname was referring to. She wondered if he called the rabbit Carrots to her face, and if the name bothered her. Miranda was used to being called way worse, and she was not looking forward to being the new kid at yet another school, the fifth one in as many years.

She continued to concentrate on the fox and ignore the other nearby mammals. He was trying not to worry about his friend, someone named Finnick, but he was talking to the rabbit about something else entirely. Miranda jumped to the thoughts of one mammal, and then another. She had to focus to stick with a specific set of thoughts, and discovered that it was hard to sort things out when someone talked about one thing while thinking about something else, especially when she was also hearing the conversation through someone else's thoughts and not with her own ears.

She focused again on the heated conversation that Nick and Judy were having. Judy wanted to tell someone about something, and Nick didn't think it was a good idea. One of his thoughts in particular caught her attention:

(* _If reading comic books has taught me anything, you definitely don't want some shady government agency hauling you away and locking you up._ *)

This was something Miranda hadn't considered about her newfound powers. She filed it away to think about later and glanced at the other bed in her room where Violet lay facing away from her. The arctic fox had been moved into the room last night, and she may as well have been an inanimate object as far as Miranda could sense with her new powers. The coyote also swore she'd seen Violet disappear and reappear the previous evening, so it was pretty obvious the vixen had powers of her own.

The coyote focused on Nick and Judy again. They were still arguing, and Nick was thinking about something he'd accidentally crushed, while Judy was freaking out because she was... stretchy, which didn't make any sense.

Miranda was puzzling over the conversation when Judy's phone rang. The rabbit was annoyed that her parents were calling her, and the fox decided he should probably call his mom. The coyote was surprised at how irritated Judy was as she talked to her parents and tried to calm them down. Miranda couldn't imagine what it must be like to have family worrying about you all the time, and the fact that she didn't suddenly made her immensely sad. She felt a lump growing in her throat and was trying to hold back tears when the rhino nurse barged in to ask if she and Violet were hungry.

* * *

Later that morning after breakfast, Judy dropped by to interview Miranda. The rabbit greeted Violet and barely got any response in return, and the vixen gave only a brief shake of her head when Judy asked if she needed anything.

(* _Hopefully Nick can get her to open up, because I doubt I could_ *)

Miranda felt bad for the rabbit, who obviously wanted Violet to like her for some reason.

Judy pulled up a chair and gave Miranda a friendly smile. The coyote tried not to laugh when Judy noticed her green eyes and immediately thought of Nick. The rest of the rabbit's disjointed thoughts tumbled over Miranda like a rushing waterfall:

(* _She doesn't have a record, so hopefully she'll talk to me even though I'm a cop_ *)

(* _I still think we should at least tell Chief Bogo_ *)

(* _Kids these days sure do weird things with their fur_ *)

The coyote had to work hard to keep her emotions in check while the suddenly judgemental rabbit thought about a horse she'd known in the third grade named Wendy Whinnyferd. It took every ounce of control Miranda had to stifle another laugh when Judy thought about how she'd been jealous of the horse's long braided mane and tail.

The rabbit pulled a notebook from her back pocket. "I'm Officer Judy Hopps, and I'm here to ask you a few questions. You're Miranda, right?"

The coyote had been trying to decide if she should be offended by the thought about her not having a police record, so all she could do was nod when the words jolted her from her thoughts.

"How old are you?"

There was an awkward pause before Miranda answered, "Seventeen."

"And you're under the care of-" Judy glanced at her notebook before continuing, "Miss Blanca?"

The coyote nodded again and tried not to cringe when she picked up the next thought from Judy:

(* _Poor thing. it must be hard growing up without a family._ *)

Miranda felt a sudden inexplicable burst of anger at her pity. How could a rabbit with hundreds of siblings and a family that loved her possibly know what Miranda's life was like?

Trying to keep her face impassive, the coyote quietly fumed for several seconds before Judy spoke again. "Are you ok?"

Miranda realized she'd been staring off into space, and noticed that Judy had started to reach out to touch her, but instead the rabbit froze and thought:

(* _Nick and Violet don't really like to be touched. Maybe coyotes don't either?_ *)

Aside from the nurse checking her vitals, Miranda tried not to think about how long it had been since another mammal had touched her. She put on her best fake smile and reached out to place her paw on Judy's arm and give it a gentle squeeze. "Yeah. Sorry, I'm just kind of out of it today." The coyote's grin widened when Judy flinched at the sudden touch, but Miranda was pleased that the rabbit didn't pull away.

Judy returned the smile and patted Miranda's paw. "I know what you mean. Is there anything else you remember from the museum?"

The coyote let go of Judy's arm and lay back in bed. "Not really. I was in the middle of the room, just looking at the exhibits." An older wolf she didn't know had been sneaking awkward glances at her, but Miranda didn't think that was worth mentioning, since she got stared at all the time. "I heard a weird sound, and then I must have fainted."

Now that she thought about it, Miss Blanca had been nearby looking at a museum display containing some large gold discs. Was that somehow connected to her foster mammal's powers? And she herself had been wondering what the wolf was thinking when the sound started, which seemed like an interesting coincidence.

Her musings were interrupted by another question. "Have you noticed anything odd since then? Or is there anything else you want to talk about?"

"Nope."

Miranda realized she'd answered too quickly, and the rabbit immediately grew suspicious. The coyote tried to think of what else she could say to sound more believable, but Judy simply nodded and continued. "If you do, make sure to let me or my partner Officer Wilde know. He's a fox, and you'll meet him when he comes to speak with Violet."

Miranda put on the innocent face she'd practiced in the mirror so many times before and asked, "Have you or Nick noticed anything unusual?" She could feel Judy's heart flutter at her partner's name, and she instantly thought of his face.

Not surprisingly, Judy lied and said, "No, nothing out of the ordinary."

(* _I wonder how she knows Nick's first name?_ *)

The coyote stopped thinking about what a terrible liar the rabbit was and held her breath when she realized that using the tod's first name was a mistake. Miranda wished she could take it back, and that Judy would just forget she'd mentioned Nick.

And then Judy did, the thought sweeping out of her mind like someone erasing a blackboard. The rabbit froze with a look of confusion on her face for a few seconds before she spoke again. "Sorry, I guess I spaced out for a moment."

Before Miranda had a chance to consider what had just happened, a familiar foxy musk filled the air and Nick appeared at the open doorway. "Officer Hopps, sorry to interrupt, but it's time to go talk to the coroner."

The coyote felt the rabbit's heart flutter when the fox spoke, though Judy's radiant smile quickly changed to a blush when Miranda thought the rabbit should tell Nick that she liked him. The coyote could swear the air around them wavered slightly for a moment as Judy hopped off the chair and said, "It's ok, we're done. By the way, this is Miranda, and Miranda, this is my partner Nick."

Nick nodded in her direction and Miranda quietly shook with mirth at his next thought after he greeted Violet:

(* _The purple streak in her hair reminds me of Judy's eyes_ *)

The arctic fox mumbled a reply, and before Miranda thought to urge Nick to tell Judy how he felt about her, the two officers had left the room.

* * *

Later that evening, after the nurse said they were free to get out of bed, Miranda and a few of the other mammals roamed up and down the hallways of the ward. The coyote took the opportunity to spy on the others, until she picked up a set of particularly interesting thoughts from the beaver named Norm, one of the other mammals that lived with Miss Blanca.

(* _There's no way I'm going back to that place. I can make it on my own, but I'm going to need money. Lots and lots of money._ *)

The coyote impatiently waited for Norm's roommate, a sloth, to slowly ramble into the hallway, before she sauntered over and gently knocked on the frame of the open door.

"Mind if I come in?"

The beaver glanced up from a notebook he'd been writing in and nodded at her. "Sure."

(* _She has really pretty eyes._ *)

Miranda couldn't help but smile at the beaver's flattering thoughts. She stepped into the room and closed the door. "I think you and I need to talk, Norm."


	4. Chapter 4

The wonderful feeling of wearing normal clothes again instead of a hospital gown put a little extra hop in Judy's step as she and Nick made their way to the coroner's office. She couldn't help but notice how he was even more pensive than usual, and she had a pretty good idea why.

"Still no word on Finnick?" was her first stab at making conversation, but Nick only shook his head and kept walking. She knew he'd been texting and calling everyone he could think of all afternoon in a vain attempt to locate his friend.

Hoping to at least distract him, Judy asked, "How's your mom?"

"She's good. The house sold last week, and she's all packed and ready to move to the retirement community. Even more reason for me to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Any idea where you'll be staying? You know, the offer still stands-"

"Pfft. Carrots, there isn't even enough room for _you_ in that tiny shoebox masquerading as an apartment. Besides, a friend mentioned letting me sublet his place while he's out of town, though I haven't seen it yet." Nick grinned. "And how are your parents and ten zillion other family members?"

Judy sighed. "Overprotective, as usual."

They arrived at their destination, a medium sized door with bold lettering that read, _Dr. Roxy Debwah, Forensic Pawthologist_.

They entered the office and Judy pulled out her pad and carrot pen. Dr. Debwah was a hyena, so Judy would take notes while Nick did most of the talking. Ever since Nick had become her partner at the ZPD, Judy and he had an unspoken understanding that he took the lead when interacting with predators, while she did the same with prey, and overall things seemed to go more smoothly that way.

Judy liked Roxy. She appreciated how thorough the hyena was, and since Roxy had met with them before, there were already two appropriately sized chairs set up next to a bigger chair that was obviously meant for larger mammals like Chief Bogo.

The doctor looked up from where she was sitting at her desk when they came in. "Good to see both of you again. I've made copies of my report so we can go over it. I thought Chief Bogo was coming too?"

Nick grabbed the report the hyena offered him and began shuffling through it. "He can't make it, so we'll fill him in later."

The hyena begin speaking as soon as everyone was seated. "If I didn't examine the victim myself, I'd think someone at the ZPD was playing a joke on me."

Nick looked up from the report he'd been leafing through. "What do you mean?"

"I've been performing autopsies for almost twenty years now, and I've never even heard of a case like this. I'll start with the less crazy parts and go from there." The hyena glanced at her copy of the report. "Victim is a saiga antelope. Identity unknown, exact age unknown. At first glance, he appears to be in his late 30's or early 40's, though I'll delve into that more in a moment. His pockets were empty, except for a single standard house key, a few coins, and a ticket to the museum. Toxicology shows nothing unusual in his bloodstream." She shook her head. "For some reason, he had cotton in his ears."

Nick nodded. "He must've known beforehand about the noise we heard."

Roxy continued speaking. "The clothes he was wearing, at least what's left of them, are unusual. They appear to be made of a fairly new fabric, but the pattern is, for lack of a better word, vintage, and they're well tailored, so it's safe to assume he's a mammal of some means."

After a quick nod from Nick she continued. "There's no central point of combustion. He had burns over his entire body, in a pattern I've never seen before. It's like all his cells simultaneously caught fire and he cooked from the inside out. If it wasn't for the sprinkler system at the museum, I'm pretty certain there wouldn't have been much left for me to perform an autopsy on. I'm still trying to figure out what to list as the cause of death, since spontaneous combustion sounds ridiculous."

"So there was no accelerant present?"

The hyena shook her head. "Nope." She flipped to the next page of the report. "The victim has extensive scarring all over his body, as well as evidence of multiple healed broken bones."

"Guess he was really accident prone?" Nick's comment made the other two mammals chuckle.

Roxy said, "Perhaps. Though there sure were are an awful lot of them, and they've all healed. Also, he has a gunshot wound."

"How recent?"

"The healed scar would indicate it happened more than a year ago, but the slug was never removed. Except that's not the weirdest part. I didn't recognize what kind of weapon it came from, so I checked with someone I know at a local university. It's from some kind of musket."

Judy stopped writing and said, "Sorry? Can you explain-"

The hyena interrupted her. "You know, from a muzzleloader. They went out of style a few hundred years ago." Judy processed Roxy's words for a moment before she went back to taking notes.

Nick quirked an eyebrow. "Maybe he was part of a really authentic reenactment club?"

Roxy laughed. "That's probably the least crazy explanation I can think of." She glanced down at the report and frowned. "Except this next part…" she trailed off and shook her head before clearing her throat and continuing. "At some point in the past, the victim suffered from a disease often derogatorily referred to as 'Goat Plague'. Properly known as ovine rinderpest, or PPR, it's caused by a morbillivirus in the family of paramyxoviruses, and is related to distemper.

"It has a high fatality rate among goats, sheep, and other members of the Bovidae family, including saiga antelopes. One of the symptoms are sores that create scarring similar to what I found in the victim's mouth. The thing is, PPR was eradicated over sixty years ago, and the last known case occurred well before that."

All three mammals awkwardly looked at each other for a few moments, with only the ticking of the clock filling the silence. Even Nick couldn't come up with something snarky to say, so the hyena continued. "His body has certainly taken a beating, but he survived long enough for all his wounds to heal. In fact, he would appear to have been in good health, especially for a mammal of his apparent age-"

Nick interrupted her. "I'm sorry, what do you mean by 'apparent age'?"

"From all of the evidence gathered so far, I can only conclude he's much older than he appears to be. It would take further tests to get a better estimate, but he's very likely hundreds of years old, even though logically that's impossible."

The three mammals stared at each other in uncomfortable silence for a moment, before the quiet was shattered by three tones from the hospital's PA system. A calm voice announced:

 _ **Security alert, southwest wing. Code Silver. Code Amber. Repeat. Code Silver. Code Amber. The hospital is on lockdown. All patients and visitors are asked to remain calm and shelter in place for their own safety. Repeat… Security alert, southwest wing...**_

The message repeated and a chill swept through Judy as she processed what the emergency codes meant. Code Silver was a hostage situation, and her stomach lurched when she remembered what Code Amber meant.

The realization hit Nick at the same time, and they simultaneously exclaimed, "The kits!" before they both sprinted out the door and down the hallway leading back to the ward.


	5. Chapter 5

Violet waited for Miranda to leave the room before she practiced disappearing again. It was strange watching her paws and arms quickly fade away and reappear with a mere thought. Unfortunately, the ratty gown she had on remained visible, and she couldn't help but wonder how many previous hospital patients had died while wearing it.

The arctic fox turned completely invisible again before stripping off her clothes, fervently hoping she didn't unexpectedly find herself standing naked in the middle of the ward if her newfound powers suddenly stopped working. Next, she opened the door a crack and peeked out into the hallway. Satisfied that no one was nearby, she slipped out of the room and shut the door. Being naked made her feel incredibly exposed, but she quit worrying after she passed several mammals who obviously couldn't see her.

It didn't take long to find Miranda lounging in a chair, where she had a view of most of the ward. The coyote had changed into her street clothes after leaving their shared room, and Violet wondered what she was up to. Miranda seemed to be impatiently watching a sloth slowly creeping out of one of the rooms, so Violet decided to slip by the glacially moving mammal as soon as there was just enough space to do so.

Like the other patient rooms in the ward, this one had two medium-sized beds, one of which was occupied by a beaver named Norm, and the other presumably belonged to the sloth. The door Violet came through was for mammals who were roughly her size, while on the far side of the room was a bigger door leading to the hallway used by larger mammals.

Careful to make as little noise as possible, Violet crossed the room and stood on the other side of the empty bed. She was able to see part of the page Norm was working on, a complicated diagram that didn't make any sense to her. He'd never seemed particularly bright, so it was probably some dumb thing related to the comicbooks he was always reading.

Looking past the sloth, Violet could see Miranda stand up and start walking towards the open doorway. She went back to watching Norm scribble away in the notebook he always carried everywhere, totally oblivious to her presence. He'd shown obvious interest in Miranda when the coyote first arrived at their foster home, and Violet wondered if there was something going on between them. The vixen hoped things weren't about to get uncomfortably weird when Miranda knocked on the doorframe.

"Mind if I come in?"

The beaver glanced up from the notebook and nodded at Miranda. "Sure."

Violet carefully stepped back and pressed against the far wall as the coyote came into the room and closed the door.

"I think you and I need to talk, Norm," Miranda said.

Norm smiled and put the notebook down on the table next to his bed. "Of course. Pull up a chair, sweetheart." He sounded odd, like he was trying to be suave, but instead he simply came off as nervous and kind of creepy. Violet always noticed Norm was pretty smarmy to most females, and the way he looked Miranda up and down made her cringe.

Miranda said, "I want in."

The smile on Norm's face quickly turned into a look of confusion. "Sorry?"

"I wanna help you get the money you need."

A look of shock crept across his face. "I don't understand-"

"Look, let me just cut to the chase. I know what you were thinking about earlier, and I want to help." Norm muttered something Violet couldn't hear, and Miranda laughed. "Oh, honey, don't worry. I already know what kinds of things you boys think about all the time."

Norm looked shocked for a moment before he finally managed to splutter out, "I don't know how you're doing it, but stay out of my head!"

There was something really off about the conversation, but Violet couldn't figure out what it was. The other two mammals silently stared at each other for a few moments, and Violet pondered what they'd said so far and tried to figure out what she was missing.

She was still puzzling over Norm's last statement when the coyote leaned in close and tapped Norm on the forehead, causing him to flinch. "Don't worry, after today I won't pry in there without your permission. Honest. I just want you to understand what I'm capable of, and that you can trust me." After another brief silence, Miranda said, "Bingo. And don't worry about it. I like you too. You've got real ambition, and I think we can help each other." She nodded, and added, "I agree, we need to get out of here. We should take some of the others with us, too."

Norm started to speak, but Miranda interrupted him. "I can be very… persuasive. If nothing else, we'll need to examine a few to figure out what happened to us, right?"

Now Violet was really confused. It felt like she was only hearing half the conversation, but she didn't have long to consider what was going on before Miranda burst out laughing.

"But won't it be oh-so-wonderful to have a few more mammals to help? I think between the two of us..." Miranda trailed off and sniffed the air before her eyes narrowed and she looked around the room.

Violet's heart skipped a beat, and she wondered if she'd been discovered. She was still invisible, but maybe Miranda had heard her breathing, or even caught her scent?

A knock at the large door next to where Violet was standing startled all three mammals.

Miranda frowned. "It's Miss Blanca."

Norm looked sullen. "Great, what does she want?"

Seconds later, the polar bear opened the door and peeked inside. "Hello, hello, I'm just checking on all my little dearies-" she froze and her eyes glazed over.

Norm looked like he was about to speak, but Miranda interrupted him. "Like it? Seems I can suggest-" she laughed. "I won't mess with you. I promise." She turned again and focused on the polar bear. "Watch, I'll have her go wait in the hall and keep anyone from bothering us."

Miss Blanca turned and moved woodenly as she stepped back into the hallway, followed closely by a still-invisible Violet.

She could hear Miranda speaking behind her "Oh, and Miss Blanca, please shut the door." Violet turned and saw the coyote pick up a blanket from the empty bed and start swinging it around. "Before we talk more, I need to make sure we're alone-" The rest of what Miranda said was cut off when the polar bear closed the door.

Violet edged away from Miss Blanca, who sat down next to the door and silently stared at the far wall. The vixen pondered what to do next. All of this was completely bizarre, and she had no idea what to do. She'd never been one to ask for help, but right now Miranda really felt like she needed some adult supervision. Except the only grown-up she really knew was currently staring blankly at the wall, and Violet was afraid to try and talk to her. Maybe the goodie two-shoes bunny cop could help, if she could find her - or better yet, Nick?

Violet crept away from Miss Blanca and down towards the exit, dodging larger mammals as she looked at the clipboards high up on the wall to see who was in each room. Aside from a few of the other orphans from the foster home, she didn't recognize any of the names, so she started up the other side of the hall back towards where Miss Blanca was still sitting. She tried to avoid looking at her, since it creeped Violet out to see the normally bubbly polar bear reduced to an emotionless zombie.

A door that she'd just passed opened, and a rhino nurse stepped into the hallway. Suddenly the rhino froze, along with a few other nearby mammals. Miss Blanca stood and opened the door she'd been sitting next to and Miranda came out, followed by Norm.

The coyote said, "All of you, walk down the hallway towards the exit." Violet watched in a horrified trance as the herd of mammals shambled towards her, the air around them wavering like heat rising off hot pavement.

Violet panicked and ducked into the room the rhino nurse had come out of. The furthest bed was empty, but between it and the bed closest to her stood a small gray rabbit she recognized from the foster home. Jack looked like he'd just woken up, and he had an odd blank look on his face as he crawled out of bed and started to march towards her.

She raced over to grab him, hoping to hide behind the bed and drag him out of sight with her. But as soon as she touched Jack, they were both enveloped by a bright light. Violet was mesmerized by the shimmering purple haze around them and failed to notice that the rabbit had snapped out of his trance. He shook his head, a confused look on his face for a moment before he started screaming.

Violet clamped her paw over his mouth, and Jack struggled. She turned visible again and let go of his arm to press a single digit to her lips, after which he went perfectly still, his eyes going wide briefly before he scrunched them closed. He said something that was muffled by her paw, but she tightened the grip on his mouth and he went perfectly still and silent.

Her gaze was drawn back to the purple haze surrounding them. She'd never seen anything like it before, and she had no idea where it had come from. Violet's attention jerked away from the mysterious light when a rhino nurse marched by her door, followed by a wolf carrying a sloth. She reflexively ducked down behind the bed when Miranda and Norm walked by.

The vixen could hear Miranda speaking from the hallway. "I'm having a hard time controlling everyone, so I think we'll have to leave most of you behind." Violet peeked over the top of the bed and saw a hippo stumble and fall against the far wall before slumping to the ground. She heard Norm mumble something before Miranda said, "Don't worry, I just told them to go to sleep." Her next words made Violet's skin crawl. "We'll come back for the useful ones later."

They waited in silence for several minutes after the hallway was quiet before Violet relaxed and let go of Jack's mouth. The rabbit spoke, but kept his eyes closed. "What's going on, and why are you n-n-n-nnnaked?"

With an involuntary yip, Violet grabbed a sheet from the bed and wrapped it around herself. After a few adjustments, she said, "OK, you can look now."

Jack opened his eyes and stood up. "We should go find Miss Blanca."

Violet grabbed his arm. "You can't. There's something wrong with her, and we need to stay here."

The rabbit thumped his foot in annoyance. "What do you mean, something's wrong with her? Tell me what's going on!"

Violet quickly explained what she'd seen and heard earlier, surprised that the usually fidgety little rabbit was able to hold still long enough for her to finish.

When she was done, Jack thought for a moment. "We should go find Officer Nick or Officer Judy."

"Are you crazy? They might come back-"

"We can't just sit here!"

"Look, you little-"

Their argument was interrupted by three tones from a speaker on the wall, followed by a message:

 _ **Security alert, southwest wing. Code Silver. Code Amber. Repeat. Code Silver. Code Amber. The hospital is on lockdown. All patients and visitors are asked to remain calm and shelter in place for their own safety.**_

The message repeated, and Violet puzzled over what it meant. She had no idea what the codes were, and the rest of it certainly didn't sound good.

She turned her attention back to Jack. "See? We need to stay-"

Jack wrestled his arm loose and zoomed out the door, moving so fast Violet could barely see him. Almost immediately there was another blur, and he was standing in front of her again. "Whoa, did you see how fast I ran just now?"

Violet blinked in surprise, but before she could reply, he zoomed out the door again. A moment later she heard a crash, followed by Jack's excited voice. "How are you even doing that? Hey, I have powers too, and so does Violet! Can you do something cool too, Officer Nick?"

Seconds later, Violet saw Judy hop over to check the unconscious hippo in the hallway, before the rabbit spotted her. "Are you OK? What happened here?" Judy scrunched up her nose and raised an eyebrow when she noticed what Violet was wearing, but before she could explain, Nick poked his head around the corner.

"So… you have super toga powers?"

A blur flew through the doorway, and Jack popped up in front of her. "No, she can turn invisible! Show them, Violet."

Just then a tremor shook the room, followed by a muffled explosion. The lights flickered and bits of plaster showered down on them, and the walls shook. The four mammals froze and stared at each other in shock, mouths agape, before the fire alarm shrieked and the room was plunged into darkness.


	6. Chapter 6

_I'm Peter Moosebridge. Tonight on ZNN: an explosion at Zootopia General Hospital left at least three dead and dozens injured…_

The news anchor droned on, but Nick barely paid attention to the flickering image on the common room television. Judy fidgeted impatiently next to him while they waited for their turn to speak with Chief Bogo, who was sitting behind a desk in an office adjacent to the nurses station a few paces away. The buffalo was talking to Delgato and a panther from the mayor's office, and Nick wondered if he should move closer to try and hear what they were talking about. A few other ZPD officers hovered around the room, occasionally stealing glances at the television or talking quietly with each other.

Nick's attention returned to the news program when it switched to a live video feed of the front of the hospital, where a large gaping hole filled the space formerly occupied by the front entrance. Several helicopters with searchlights danced in and out of the frame, illuminating a line of the large ZPD officers that had formed a line between the herd of mammals milling around and the front of the damaged building. The ticker scrolling along the bottom of the screen was ominous:

 _Hostage situation and possible bomb explosion earlier today at Zootopia General Hospital, several mammals still unaccounted for, motive and number of assailants unknown, official statement from mayor forthcoming_.

The news anchor spoke again:

 _And now, here's exclusive footage of the incident obtained by ZNN..._

A slow motion replay of the explosion from a security camera at street level filled the screen, followed by footage of the aftermath that appeared to be from a cellphone camera. Several mammals walked out of the hole in the front of the hospital, and Nick recognized the coyote and beaver as two of the older orphans who were currently missing. There was also a wolf carrying a sloth, followed by a polar bear… Nick thought for a moment, before he remembered her name. Miss Blanca, the mammal who ran the group home where the orphans lived.

The coyote stepped up to the curb and stared at oncoming traffic for a moment, before one of the larger vans driving by suddenly stopped. All of the mammals piled in and the van swerved back into the street mere moments before the first ZPD cruiser arrived. He'd already seen the footage a few times, and Nick still couldn't understand how the orphans had managed to arrange for an accomplice to pick them up, or how no one tried to stop them from leaving the building. The source of the explosion was also a mystery.

The fox turned his attention back to Chief Bogo. It was obvious he wasn't the only one eavesdropping when Judy's ears swiveled around to listen after the Chief said something about the orphans. Nick sidled closer to hear the conversation, and Judy followed.

The mayor's aide asked, "How will you be moving the remaining kits?"

Chief Bogo replied, "We're bringing in vehicles to evacuate them to a nearby school gym, until they can be relocated to temporary foster homes."

The panther nodded and said, "You didn't hear it from me, but something big is happening higher up the food chain, and whatever it is will be coming down on this situation like a herd of elephants."

Bogo nodded. "Understood. Of course the ZPD will do everything to co-operate-" The buffalo noticed Nick and Judy listening and paused, before he looked at Delgato and pointed in their direction. "Shut that, please." The lion moved swiftly and closed the door.

Nick dragged Judy over to an empty corner of the room. "We need to talk about Jack."

Judy gave him a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

"The panther wasn't talking about a Junior Ranger Scouts jamboree just now. Believe me, Carrots, some super secret government agency is about to swoop in."

"And?"

Nick closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "And since Jack saw you stretching your fluffy little bunny head around the corner…" He motioned with his paws, trying to get Judy to see where his train of thought was going, but when she still didn't seem to understand he sighed and added in an irritated voice, "What happens when he tells someone?"

"Oh sweet cheese and crackers."

"Carrots, you've really gotta learn how to cuss like a normal mammal." He paused for a moment, before adding, "I think we should offer to take Jack and Violet with us when we leave."

"Nick, they're not just some crickets you can bring home from the pet store!"

"Relax, it's only for one night. We'll tell Bogo we're taking them into protective custody or something, and then figure out what to do next."

Judy looked thoughtful for a moment. "I guess they could stay at my place?"

Nick laughed. "There isn't even enough room for you at your place, much less two other mammals. They can stay with me at my mom's." He hesitated for a moment, before he added, "You're welcome too, of course."

Judy smirked. "What, you can't handle a few little kits on your own?"

A sly grin spread across Nick's face. "Yeah, that must be it."

"I was looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, but I guess we really should sit down and talk to them first. Think your mom would mind?"

"Not at all."

The door opened and the panther walked out, followed by Delgato. The lion spotted them and walked over. "Hopps, Wilde… Chief wants to speak with you next."

Nick followed Judy into the room, and without even looking up from what he was reading on his phone, Chief Bogo said, "I'll keep this short, since I've got a dozen other mammals I need to contact before the mayor's announcement. You're both being released early. Go home and get some rest. It's going to be a long night, and I'll need at least a few of my officers functioning tomorrow. Report to the precinct for morning roll call. Dismissed."

After Nick cleared his throat, Bogo looked up with a scowl, and the tod tentatively said, "Ahh Chief, before we go… two of the kits that Judy and I know really well are terribly upset with everything that's happened. We'd like to keep an eye on them tonight. I realize it's unusual-"

Chief Bogo interrupted with a grunt and waved at him dismissively. "I don't have time for this… fine, that's two less mammals in my fur right now. See Clawhauser tomorrow to find out where you can drop them off. **Dismissed**."

Afraid that Judy would ask to stay and help, Nick hurried to grab her arm and drag her back out the door. "C'mon, Carrots. You heard the Chief. Let's go."

Out in the common room they ran into Violet, and the annoyed look Judy was giving Nick quickly turned to a smile when she saw the vixen. "Hey Violet. Nick and I are keeping an eye on you and Jack tonight, so how about you go get your things and meet us back here in ten minutes?"

Nick let go of Judy and his heart clenched when he saw the initial glimmer in Violet's eyes quickly change to an all too familiar look of suspicion. Unsure of what exactly the young vixen might be worried about, Nick turned to Judy and said, "Maybe you can go with her, so she doesn't get lost, and I'll go find Jack?"

Judy gave him a long quizzical look, before nodding. "Okay. Right, let's go."

Nick watched them hurry off down the hallway and was about to follow, when he got a text on his phone. He was relieved to see the message was from Finnick:

 _Hey, where you and da bunny at?_

Nick quickly replied:

 _Nice to know you're not dead. We're about to leave the hospital, where are you?_

Almost immediately Nick's phone dinged with the reply:

 _I'm around. You goin to the bunny's place? We need to talk._

This last message made Nick hesitate, since it was strange for Finnick to ask about meeting at Judy's. As far as he knew, the fennec didn't even know where she lived. Something felt off, so Nick decided to keep things vague and typed:

 _Yeah, maybe. Tonight's no good. Feral's tomorrow at 7pm?_

The last time he and the diminutive fox had been to _Feral's_ bar down near the wharf, Finnick had been tossed out, and vowed never to return, so Nick was surprised when he replied:

 _Ok_

Now Nick knew something definitely wasn't right, but before he could think of another message to send, Judy came back with both Violet and Jack in tow. He'd have to figure out what was going on with Finnick later.


End file.
